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property which historically produces more children than it does taxable wealth to support their education. There were five elementary schools and an Intermediate, seventh and eighth grades. Some of the schools were being replaced and two more were being added, all financed through the State School Building Aid program with which I was very familiar. The School Board had fired the former Superintendent and hired Cliff Riddlebarger. The Business Manager was a real non-entity who simply sat in his chair and let the superintendent do his work. I spent one day with him on a tour of the district and his principal topic of conversation was the stock market where he had invested heavily. I later discovered that he spent most of his "working" hours on the telephone with his stock broker. The funds he had invested were his own not those of the district.

Lloyd Nelson had told me that I would be shocked when I saw some of the things that went on in Lawndale but that I should move slowly and in a calculated way to gradually make improvements. My first day on duty I found two painters asleep on the job, janitors playing cards in a supply room and clerks missing from their desks as they left "early" from their duties. In all, seven employees were suddenly "unemployed" and that was just the first day. To be fair there were some good employees in the schools and in the Business Office. All they needed was some encouragement and support. Most of all, they needed some records of district financial operations including building projects. Apparently the former Superintendent had kept all the financial records in her office and when she was discharged the records disappeared.

By working through the office of the County Superintendent of schools, the County Auditor and the State Department of Finance I was able to re-construct a fairly reliable financial picture. I then began to look for titles to school district land. I found the titles to all parcels except for the title to one lot at a new school which was under construction. I checked at the site and found that a large classroom wing was being built on it and the building was almost completed. I immediately rushed to the County Recorder's Office to get the name and address of the owner of the lot. He was a resident of the state of New Jersey. When I called him, I acted mildly interested in the property and told him if we bought it he would be paid in full. I indicated that I would discuss the matter with my Superintendent and the Board of Education and would call him back in a week or so. Although I acted "mildly interested" when talking to the lot owner, we just had to acquire that lot. We already had a building on it and were in a barrel of trouble if we could not buy it.

One small problem was that we did not have money for the purchase and would have to get it from the State so I took all the descriptions and documents and flew to Sacramento to talk with Jim Harris and Paul Hoyenga in the State Department of Finance Local Allocation Division. They were most cooperative and after a few days we received a supplementary apportionment of funds from the State. Meanwhile, I had negotiated with the lot owner and we agreed